3/06/2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. presence inIraq is hurting the worldwide war on terrorism and benefits onlyIran and al Qaeda, U.S. Rep. John Murtha said on Sunday.

"The only people who want us in Iraq are Iran and al-Qaeda," Murtha said on CBS's "Face the Nation" political talk show. "And I talked to a top-level commander the other day and he said China wants us there also. Why? Because we're depleting our resources ... our troop resources and our fiscal resources.

Hey, it's working out for the rich folks who are in bed with the Bush Crime Family. They get money, and those filthy poor people are dying so they don't come scrabbling for money. Everyone wins, right?

"... The war on terrorism is worldwide. In Iraq, it's a civil war," said Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat.

Murtha, who in November called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, said it was useless for the United States to advise Iraqis.

"One of the problems I see and frustrating things is our ambassador keeps giving advice to the Iraqis," Murtha said. "Every time we give the Iraqis advice, they vote for someone else ... The Iraqis don't pay attention to our advice."

You'd figure that'd be a credit.

The U.S. role in fighting terrorism around the world is being subverted by Iraq, said Murtha, who characterized the sectarian strife between Iraq's Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims as a civil war that must be settled internally.

Murtha, a decorated Vietnam veteran who retired from the Marines Corps Reserve as a colonel in 1990, said Iraq would do a better job of rooting out terrorists once U.S. troops leave the country.

"But we HAVE to stay there and tell the dirty brown folk how to do things! They're... brown! They can't be that smart!" Weird part is, I'm pretty sure there are people out there who would actually SAY that...

"I'm convinced they know where they are, they know who they are," he said. "But they won't tell us because they've turned against us. We've lost the hearts and minds of the people."

The United Nations is scrutinizing Iran because of its nuclear research but Murtha said Tehran has become emboldened because of the U.S. focus in Iraq.

"We have a situation where our military is in such bad shape, it couldn't deploy to a second front," Murtha said. "And the Iranians know this. North Korea knows it. China knows it. We're depleting our resources in Iraq."

You'd think I'd dismiss this as utter paranoia... but he's right. Are they just waiting to come after us the moment we're out of troops? Highly unlikely - nobody's that stupid, and anything they could do would result in them getting bombed back to the last ice age. But they're waiting for us to run out of resources, then they're free to do what they want without the threat of our military stopping them.

That's the rub - so many conservatives are screaming about how China's just waiting to destroy us, adn I ask myself, "If you're so worried, why not get the military out of Iraq and get them back here so China can't DO anything?" Then, of course, I remember that they also believe that if we take even one troop out of Iraq, we're "cutting and running", and scrap asking my question out loud.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday and said the war in Iraq was going "very, very well" but Murtha was skeptical.

"Why would I believe him?" he said. "This administration, including the president, has mischaracterized this war for the last two years ... So why would I believe the chairman of the Joint Chiefs when he says things are going well?"

Remember, this was a guy who supported going in at first. He's come around to realize we're screwed.

So, how long before the right-wing shills are going to swift-boat him again, and start screaming about how he's OMG TEH EBIL TRAITOR HE HAS AN OPINION THAT'S NOT THE ONE WE WANT?! Took very little time last time. 'Course, last time the ignorant chest-thumper who bashed him got her filthy little hands slapped for it.